Is your direct mail missing these key features?

Welcome to the world of direct mail! Chances are you’ve seen
direct mail just about every day in your mailbox. This has
proven to be an effective form of marketing, and one that
you should seriously consider.
As with other avenues of marketing, direct mail works best
when targeted. Unless you are Target?, Wal-Mart?, or
Safeway?, for direct mail to be effective, it must go to
your target audience. In this day and age, I am not
personally happy with a 2% response rate on direct mail; and
these are my personal techniques to make your direct mail
get opened, and get responses. I shoot for a 15% response
rate with direct mail – why don’t you?
So let’s get to it! First of all, let’s start with the
pieces you are mailing. You can send anything from sales
letters to brochures to catalogues or pretty much anything
that will help you sell your company.
Postcards work great for an initial mailing – it gets your
business name out there and visible in your target market.
(TIP: Remember the Rule of 7 – your business name and logo
will take roughly 7 viewings before your audience remembers
it). Postcards generally don’t work to close a sale; but
they seriously help get your name out there. The most
effective postcards announce the grand opening of your
business, a private sale (only to your best customers – one
of my favorites! a secret sale (“bring in this card by
6/16/06 and get 15% off your purchase”! or any other
notable announcement. In my experience, they work best as
attention-getters, announce yourself loudly and
passionately!
I use sales letters as a follow-up to the postcard mailing;
and I generally send them within 1-3 months after the
initial postcard mailing. Study after study show that longer
sales letters work better than short sales letters. They
should all include very important information about your
company and your product or service – but must detail the
benefits to the user. I suggest using special codes in your
sales letter (i.e.: visit www.my-business-site.com and enter
this code for your gift) so you can track who responded to
your letter, even if they didn’t respond to your mailing
personally.
The next step is to develop a good, simple brochure.
Brochure mailings should be highly targeted. They can be
expensive to mail out; thus you want your brochure to go to
those people who have already visited your website, made a
phone call, or visited your store based on your postcard or
sales letter. These should be sent out 1-3 months after the
sales letter, and should not be just a banner for your
business. These brochures should give information – tips on
how to succeed using X method, tips on how to make the most
of your money – something the reader can implement
immediately. The back panel of your brochure should include
company information, special sales that you are
highlighting, and a business reply card (postage paid!).
Invite them to set up a telephone appointment with you,
visit your website, or anything – as long as you invite them
to do something!
Let’s talk a little about the packaging of your direct mail
pieces. In my opinion, using the old method of printed
labels and mass postage implies that you are Big Business
and generally doesn’t help get your mail opened. Take a day
to personally handwrite all of the address on the envelopes
and stick real stamps on them – people have a tendency to
open mail that is personally addressed to them. Sometimes I
even stick the stamps upside-down – adding another human
element to the equation. (TIP: People do business with
people, not computers, machines, or factories – so the more
you show them that you’re a real person the more likely they
are to equate you with someone with whom they can do
business) To make this task a little easier on yourself,
I’ve found that using neighborhood teens or family members
is a great way to personalize your mailings. Generally
teenagers will do the job for much less than your average
adult. Their spirits will remain high while stuffing and
stamping; and (for US-based companies, at least) you can get
a tax break for employing these kids. (TIP: Send handwritten
notes inside all pieces you send – it adds yet another
personal element to the mix – and use it to invite them to
do something or thank them for their time. Include your
contact information on this note as well, and use their
name!)
Well, these are just a few of the techniques I use in direct
mail marketing. If you have any questions, comments, or
concerns please contact me at info@trinityjacobs.com and
mention “Direct Mail” in the subject line! Good luck, and
happy marketing!